What appears to be solid matter to us is, on the sub-atomic level, empty space populated by particles and waves. Add to our visual and sensory apparatuses, which differ per individual, and we get what we think is reality.

A cat or a bee sees the world entirely differently because of how the structures in their eyes interpret the dancing particles and waves. Therefore, they see things we can’t. Cats can see in the dark. Bees can detect ultraviolet light. Their world is not the world that humans perceive. Their reality is different. But if they disregard the laws of physics and crash into a tree, they will suffer the consequences.

For people too, if we do not see a tree and smash right into it, we will learn that “reality” exists outside what we perceived, until we perceive the pain of our injuries.

Our perceptions are also easily tricked by optical illusions, mirages, and sleight of hand. And our senses can be impaired or nonexistent. If a blind person does not see a tree does that mean the tree is not real? They will find out if they walk into it. Yet even this solid tree, at the atomic level is an energetic pattern of particles and waves, vibrating at the intensity that produces the effect of solid matter.
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Right now the earth is hurling through space at a dizzying rate, yet we perceive it to be standing still. It looks like the sun sinks in the west at the end of the day, when it is always in the same position while the earth is rotating. These are just a few examples of how our perceptions create our belief in a reality that is really not so.

Perception has to do with how we experience the outer world. Awareness has to do with how we experience our inner world.
We can perceive something “out there,” such as a rainbow that we experience through our senses. If we are color-blind, that rainbow looks different to us than if we see in full color. If we are tone-deaf a symphony may be just so much rhythmic noise. If we have a highly tuned sense of hearing, we can hear all the musical variations and be touched emotionally.

Perception and the physical senses are inter-related. It relies on such senses as sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.

Awareness comes from inside and does not rely on the physical senses. A blind person may not see the rainbow but can be aware that a rainbow exists because people have told him or her about it. Or they can hear people exclaiming with wonder at the beauty of the rainbow and therefore they know that rainbows are perceived to be beautiful.

Awareness is in the background. Perception is in the foreground. And like perception, awareness varies according to the individual. Though it does not rely on the senses, some people have more finely-tuned awareness than others. They feel and recognize the being that does the perceiving. Helen Keller was a great example of this. She was blind and deaf but still was aware of the person or soul she was inside.
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There are degrees of awareness. Some people go through life like living zombies, on automatic pilot. Others are highly attuned to their inner and outer environment (regardless of the condition of their physical senses). But awareness does not depend on whether something exists out there or not. It is a mental and spiritual thing.

You are referring to two of the three types of samadhi, which is a term for the highest levels of consciousness. Eastern mystics have categorized these high levels of consciousness, which always involve direct apprehension of the Divine Source Energy of the Universe. They are:
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• Nirvikalpa samadhi
• Savilkalpa samadhi
• Sahaja samadhi

Nirvikalpa Samadhi
In nirvikalpa samadhi, you are the giant heart of the Universe. Even the Universe is tiny within the vastness of your being. It is a state of unlimited bliss and peaceful joy.

Nirvikalpa samadhi is considered to be the highest samadhi that most Spiritual Masters can attain. But it only lasts a few hours or days at most. Then it’s time to come back into the world of the physical. Often, we don’t want to come back into the world again. It is even said that if we stay there for 18–21 days, our soul may leave the body and cross over to the Other Side.

I have read of Spiritual Masters who have gone into Nirvikalpa samadhi and announced to their students, “Today is a good day to die.” They realized that they had attained their highest samadhi. Now it was not possible for them to keep carrying on in the physical plane.

This samadhi is not a survival state. It is a pervasive ecstasy. We really cannot carry on with material life in the world while in Nirvikalpa.
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Savikalpa Samadhi
In Savikalpa samadhi, which also only lasts for a period of time, we lose all consciousness of time and space. As there is no time, there is nothing to get done, there is nothing to do. It is already all done.

In this state of samadhi we see ourselves merely as an instrument to channel the purpose of the Divine. We do not need to do anything, it is already perfect and complete. There is nothing to accomplish, nothing to attain, nothing to do.

Unlike in Nirvikalpa samadhi where all thought has stopped, in Savikalpa samadhi thoughts arise, but they do not affect you. You just notice them without getting involved in them.

Sahaja Samadhi
Sahaja samadhi is the state of higher consciousness in which we are capable of working in the physical plane, while still maintaining Nirvikalpa samadhi. It’s simultaneously one foot in heaven and one foot on earth.

In Sahaja samadhi we do the daily tasks and chores. But each of these activities is infused with the bliss that only present moment awareness of the Divine can bring.

It is said that few Spiritual Masters have achieved Sahaja samadhi. It comes through grace. Grace is a deep spiritual topic of it own. It is a gift of insight from the divine and cannot be forced.

No to the first question. Yes to the second.

Of course, this question is a quote from the Chicago song, “Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?” from 1970.

The chorus goes,
Does anybody really know what time it is?
Does anybody really care?
If so I can't imagine why.
We've all got time enough to cry.

Getting back to the first question: Does anybody really know what time it is? No, because time is a relative measurement based on agreements we have made so we can organize our lives. For example, we agree that we will meet at noon for lunch or be in a class at a certain time because is a practical way of working together as a species to accomplish our goals.

Other animals do not have need of this type of measurement because they do not need to plan their lives. A dog or cat does not know the difference between 2:30 and 2:45 PM. A coyote does not fret because she will be late to a meeting. A snake does not measure the minutes on a clock so he can get ready for some event. Living our lives by the time clock is strictly human behavior.

The actual time on the clock varies according to where you are on the globe or in outer space, so in that sense it is also relative and not absolute. It is never 10:00 AM all over the world at the same time. Time is also relative, as Einstein pointed out, depending on the observer of it, as in “Time flies when you’re having fun” or it drags when you are bored or stuck.

The only absolute time is the speed of light. Nothing can go faster than that. But notice that time and space are united as it measures how long it takes for light to get from point A to point B. Therefore, time and space are inextricably bound together. In that sense, time is a continuum, which we break up into chunks for planning and organizational purposes.

Now, for the second question: “Does anybody really care?” Yes, if you are a human being living in the modern world. In primitive times, we conducted our lives according to the flow of nature. Now, in our organized societies where products, services, and information drive people’s survival, people do care intensely what time it is.

Caring about what time it is causes huge amounts of stress on humanity. We get stuck in traffic and fear being late because we could lose our jobs. People will not be able to depend on us if we are not conscious of time. Our reputations are at stake. And time stresses us out because we feel there isn’t enough of it to get all the things we want to accomplish done in our lifetime.

That brings us to the most important reason for why we care: Only the human animal is aware of the fact that it has a time-bound, limited life-span and can reflect on this. It frustrates us to know that our life is whirling by and there is nothing we can do to stop this movement towards our physical death. We know that there is going to be an end to this physical time and it frightens most of us. We will die and we will not have fulfilled our plans. And therefore, we care very, very much.

Outside of the world of form and physicality, time does not exist. Only eternity prevails in the world of the Spirit. Eternity is without beginning or ending and flows continuously and simultaneously everywhere. It is a space of fearlessness that exists outside of the human mind and its desire to measure, acquire, accumulate, and plan. It is the eternal Now.

The sanskrit word samadhi means “putting together” and is the final integration in the process of enlightenment if you are on the yogic path. This is when the enlightened being is liberated from the ego mind and its constant chatter, evaluations, judgments, worries, fears, and opinions and enters a state of imperturbable joy.

It is less of an experience and more of a a pure state of being. Each moment is sacred, whether the saint is brushing her teeth or sweeping his floor. Being in samadhi doesn’t mean you have to sit for hours in painful positions. It means being in the present moment at all times and not being dragged away from it by the fears, likes, and dislikes of the ego-mind’s drama.

In the state of samadhi, the saint sees only oneness in all occurrences of life and finds deep peace therein. The enlightened being does not pay homage to worry or fear. She does not feel anxiety because she knows there are no barriers between her needs and their fulfillment. But usually the saint does not have many needs because he is happy within himself and is not seeking for something outside him to complete his picture of bliss.
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In this bliss of samadhi, all suffering disappears. Samadhi is not the same thing as fun moments at the amusement park or at a party. That sort of happiness is fleeting. Samadhi is a remembrance of our own divinity. It is the feeling of being in the presence of Diving Source of the Universe and being at one with this Divine Source at the same time.

What feels right for you in the present moment? That is your basic truth.

If you are doing fulfilling work that is in keeping with your talents, abilities, dreams, and desires, that is your truth because it is being true to who you are. If you are in a relationship that is fun and enriching, that is your truth. If you relax in ways that are joyful and creative, that is your truth. It is the truth of who you really are, because it ultimately brings happiness and joy and the nature of the Soul is joy. Those are gauges for determining is something is right for you and is your truth.

But if you are doing grunt work just for the money and you hate it, it is also your truth for the moment. If you are in complicated, uncomfortable relationships, or find recreation in harmful ways, that is also your truth for the moment. The truth is always What Is So.
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The truth is always in the present moment. It cannot be in the future. Therefore, find and engage in what brings the greatest joy to your life in all areas: Work, relationships, spirituality, and relaxation. Then you will be living your own, unique truth.
 

Don’t allow your constantly chattering mind to run the show. When your mind, which tends to focus on problems, is in control, you will never be happy. If you place your mind in a subordinate position to your soul or spirit, you will still be able to use your mind but its built-in negativity will become weaker and weaker.

Usually, we wake up and are already swept away by the problems of the day. Trying to solve these problems creates other problems. This is what happens when we live out of our ego-minds. But if we live in the Spirit, no matter what happens, we still have that underlying sense of peace and contentment.
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Therefore, find out who you are spiritually and do not believe you are the fallible, mistaken human mind. It is an instrument to help you navigate through life but it is not who you are.

Happiness does not depend on a calendar year but is a lifelong way of being. When people put off happiness into the future, or dwell on happy moments in the past with regret, they will never find happiness. Future happiness is not the result of present time misery. Past happiness can never be resurrected.

2016 is gone and you cannot bring it back. 2018 isn’t here and you cannot drag the future into the present. All you have is 2017 right now and 2017 is where the happiness is if you are willing to uncover it.
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I say uncover it, because happiness is the natural state of the Soul. As such, we need to divest ourselves of all the obscuring layers of conditioning and anxious thinking, and allow ourselves to feel happy now. Let your natural state of happiness shine through. You will find it by by-passing your mind and centering yourself in your heart.

If you make your decision based on the calm, clear perception of the present moment and not based on fear, it will lead to happiness. The decision itself must make you happy for it to result in future happiness. Then when, you make the decision, release it to the Universe and accept what comes to you with a fresh heart.

Happiness is not about getting it right, tying life up in a neat little bow so you won’t have to suffer, or hedging your bets with the Universe. It is about being in bliss right now. If you are not happy right now, it will not result in future happiness.
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Most people put off happiness and have a huge amount of anxiety about the future. Then, when the future comes, they still exist in a state of anxiety because they started out that way. You can’t expect happiness to spring out of unhappiness.

We love to escape reality, because, as F. Scott Peck says in the first line of his book The Road Less Traveled, “Life is difficult.” Instead of facing the difficulties head-on and resolving them, it is easier to escape through drugs, alcohol, entertainment, anything that takes us away from our problems temporarily.

But these escapes, as mentioned, are temporary, for we are not here to escape from fully living life. It is our soul-chosen purpose to expand our awareness and consciousness and to grow, not to escape. And as we know, escapes can take us even deeper into our problems because we have not dealt with them and just let them pile up under the carpet.

We also want to escape from the consequences of our actions and our responsibility for building our own lives. Ultimately, there is no place to run and no place to hide. We can put off dealing with reality in the present moment through filling our lives with escapes. But in doing so, we are postponing the inevitable moment when we must deal with it.
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Reality is the present moment. That is all that is ever real. We can try all we want to escape from it until we realize that entering fully into it is the path to freedom.